OmniX System: Return of the Scorned Son-in-law

#2

The icy rain felt like thousand tiny needles stabbing into Evan’s skin as he crawled toward the towering iron gates of the Wensley Estate. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest, his ribs aching from the heavy gravity spell that had crushed him moments ago. He didn't have much time; the red light on his wrist pulsed like a dying heart, a constant reminder that his mother was fading.

If he could just slip inside the manor, he might be able to find a low-grade Life-Core in the servant’s infirmary or Vanessa’s vanity. Anything to buy his mother a few more hours. He reached for the gate’s handle, but before his fingers could touch the cold metal, a heavy shadow loomed over him.

"Still trying to sneak into places you don't belong, little rat?" Julian’s voice boomed from the other side of the bars. He wasn't alone; a few of his rich, arrogant friends stood behind him, their eyes gleaming with malicious excitement.

Julian didn't wait for an answer. He lifted a bucket he had been holding and dumped its contents over the gate. A thick, foul-smelling sludge of kitchen scraps and stagnant water drenched Evan, soaking into his already ruined suit.

"That's for polluting the Pavilion with your presence," Julian sneered, his friends erupting into cruel laughter. "You're a live-in son-in-law, Evan. That means you're lower than the dirt on our boots. Did you really think you were coming back inside the main house?"

Evan wiped the slop from his eyes, his breath hitching in his throat. The rage inside him was a seething furnace, a dark, hot fire that threatened to consume him. If not for his mother’s life hanging by a thread, he would have torn the gate open and wrapped his hands around Julian’s throat.

"I just need my things from the shed, Julian," Evan said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that he struggled to keep under control. "I’m leaving. Just let me in so I can get what I need and go."

Julian leaned against the gate, a jagged smirk playing on his lips. "Oh, you'll go. But first, our carriage is waiting, and the mud is a bit too deep for our designer shoes. Since you're so good at being on your knees, why don't you make yourself useful?"

Julian clicked his fingers, and the gates groaned open just enough for the carriage to roll forward. The horses snorted, their breath turning to mist in the freezing air. Julian pointed to the thick puddle of muck right in front of the carriage step.

"Get down, Evan. Be the footstool you were born to be," Julian commanded, his friends gathering around to record the scene. "Do it, and maybe I’ll let you into your precious shed. Refuse, and I’ll have the guards break your mother’s stasis pod tonight."

Evan’s fingernails dug into his palms until blood dripped into the mud. He visualized his mother’s pale, gaunt face—the woman who had designed the very foundations of this family’s wealth. For her, he could endure any hell. He slowly sank into the freezing muck, his knees disappearing into the filth.

Julian stepped onto Evan’s back with his full weight, twisting his heel into Evan’s shoulder blade. "Look at him," Julian laughed, his voice echoing through the rainy courtyard. "The great architect's son, literally supporting the weight of his betters. Don't move, dog. I don't want to slip."

Each of his friends took a turn, their heavy boots crushing Evan further into the mud. Evan didn't make a sound, his eyes fixed on the dark, wet ground. He was a volcano waiting to erupt, a mountain of resentment that was reaching its breaking point.

When they finally boarded and the carriage rattled away, Evan pulled himself out of the sludge. He didn't look back at them. He dragged his body toward the back of the estate, where a small, damp stone hut sat hidden behind the gardens. This was his "bedroom"—a repurposed tool shed that smelled of rust and rot.

He burst through the door, his eyes searching the dark corners for any scrap of mana or medicine. But before he could even start, the door creaked open, and a soft, glowing blue light filled the cramped space. Vanessa stood there, her frost-aura making the raindrops on her coat turn to ice.

"Still crawling back like a shameless dog, I see," she said, her voice filled with a deep, cutting disappointment. "I thought after tonight you would have some shred of dignity left. But I suppose a hollow-blood never changes."

She stepped inside, her presence making the air in the small shed turn painfully cold. She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and tossed it onto the dirt floor. "Sign them, Evan. The divorce papers. They include a clause that removes your mother from the Wensley insurance pool."

"You would kill her just to save a few mana-credits?" Evan gasped, the cold air beginning to freeze the moisture in his lungs. "Vanessa, she loved you. She treated you like her own daughter. How can you be this heartless?"

Vanessa’s eyes flared with a sudden, icy light. "She was a tool, Evan. A brilliant one, but a tool nonetheless. We needed her genius to build our empire, and we needed a naive fool like you to keep her loyal. But now, she’s broken, and you’re useless."

She leaned in closer, the frost from her breath coating Evan’s eyelashes. "You compare yourself to Damon? Damon is a rising star in the magical world. He has an ambitious power level that you can't even dream of. With him, I’ll reach heights that a 'Void' like you wouldn't understand."

"I loved you," Evan whispered, his voice cracking as the ice began to thicken in his chest. "I gave you everything."

Vanessa let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "I never loved you, Evan. You were a 'merit-shield' for my family’s reputation—the perfect way to show how 'charitable' we were to the less fortunate. But the shield is cracked, and I’m done carrying it."

When Evan reached for the papers to tear them up, Vanessa’s hand moved in a blur. A wave of "Frost Qi" slammed into his chest, instantly freezing the air around him. He fell back, his lungs seizing as he fought for a single breath.

"You're a mistake that needs to be erased," Vanessa said coldly. Suddenly, she began to gather a brutal, swirling vortex of frost magic in her palms. The sheer intensity of the power was enough to shatter stone; it was a killing blow meant to end him right there.

Evan’s face went white, terror flooding his veins as he stared at the woman he once called his wife. "Vanessa... please..." he wheezed, the air in the room vanishing as her spell reached its peak.

"I'll kill you myself right now, Evan," she hissed, her eyes glowing with a murderous, freezing light. "If I don't kill you, you won't stop showing up and inconveniencing me with your godforsaken family's misfortune."

Just as she was about to release the devastating power, Damon Sharpe stepped into view and grabbed her hands, his touch grounding her magic. "Let's not dirty our hands with his death, babe," he said with a dark, oily smile. "He was already marked for death tonight."

Damon leaned toward her ear, whispering something that made Vanessa’s murderous expression melt into a wicked, twisted smirk. "That's brilliant," she murmured, looking at Evan with a gaze that held no more humanity. "That's why I love you."

Evan didn’t even care to hear them. His eyes were fixed on the floor near the corner of the shed, where a discarded, dirty scrap of a mana crystal lay forgotten in the dust. With a desperate grunt, he lunged forward, his fingers clawing through the dirt until he gripped the cold stone.

It was a tiny, low-grade scrap, barely enough to power a lamp, but to Evan, it was everything. He squeezed the sharp stone into his palm, hiding it as he curled into a ball. This was enough to keep the stasis pod humming for a few more hours; it was his mother's final hope.

They didn't even look back as two massive guards entered the shed on Damon's signal. The men grabbed Evan by the hair, dragging him out of the shed and back into the freezing, relentless rain.